Jinchuriki
by KSoze
Summary: The Power of Human Sacrifice isn't just a title, it's a way of life. With Jiraiya elected as Hokage and Naruto becoming more of a target than ever, how willing is Naruto to give himself up for his people?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Jinchuriki.

While some people only recognize the horrible word as describing the hosts of the nine demons, the true meaning of the word 'jinchuriki' originated in the earliest days of the shinobi.

To become a jinchuriki at that time was as disgraceful as it is now.

A jinchuriki was one who gave their lives for the sake of their comrades and their friends over all else. For ninjas this was as foolhardy as it was discriminated against. Your life as a ninja was only for the village – for the mission.

Hatake Sakumo was the one of the first 'modern' ninja to realize the true meaning of the word and how it applied to the nature of the honorable shinobi – the Power of Human Sacrifice - though he killed himself with those ideals in mind.

Now, the word is diluted as it is used for hatred and prejudice. In Konoha, the word is generally used to describe the jailer of the Kyuubi, though he was not Konoha's first jinchuriki.

The first human sacrifice of Konoha was the Fourth Hokage, Namekaze Minato, the father who perfected the jutsu that demonstrated the absolute power to sacrifice oneself for precious people.

The second was his son, Uzumaki Naruto, who ironically spent his whole life trying to do the same.

Though after all, it was difficult to sacrifice yourself for your friends when people kept on trying to kill you.

And the second attempt on Naruto's life by his own village occurred when he was 13, in front of the Hokage's tower, where a kunai found its way to his spine.

The silent kill was the most perfect.

- -

The previous week was a momentous occasion.

Sunagakure, upon influence of Otogakure staged one of the largest failed invasions.

It was during the moment which Naruto literally used his head for victory against a brother of sorts – the jinchuriki of the Sand, Sabaku no Gaara – that another sacrifice, similar to one 13 years ago, was being made.

Orochimaru, without his hands, had been defeated.

The Sandaime, having sacrificed himself, had won – protecting his village.

The summoning of the Shinigami was enough to distract the Sound Four and allow Jiraiya to easily kill one of them and break the barrier they had created, moving in towards their master.

By the time Jiraiya had reached his former sensei though, Orochimaru was on his way to disappearing, and Death's vice grip was slowly, and what Jiraiya assumed to be very painfully, taking out Sandaime's soul.

No words were said between sensei and student, as the old man looked over another former student with nothing but pride on his face. Removing his battle helmet, to Jiraiya's surprise, the Sandaime placed the helmet on Jiraiya's head, letting him know what his intentions were.

Jiraiya, though he wanted to protest and disagree, could not deny the last wish of a smiling, dying old man.

Sarutobi got the last laugh, as he finally gave in and left this world for good.

When the ANBU reached the spot where Sarutobi's dead body lay, they saw Jiraiya standing up, still wearing the former Hokage's battle helmet.

And for the first time in Jiraiya's life, he saw the ANBU in front of him, on their knees, bowing.

His first command as the undeclared Hokage was, "what the hell are you doing on your knees? Get up, and go help your village!"

In the days to follow almost half of Konoha's ninja's were recovering. Almost all of the Genins who had competed in the Chunin Exam were among them, and surprisingly the one who had fought the largest battle was the first to get out.

"They made you Hokage?" Naruto laughed, not mockingly, but with affection.

"I was the most deserving candidate." Jiraiya replied, as he walked the boy out of the hospital. Few people had been to see Naruto – few as in just Jiraiya, Kakashi and Iruka.

"I guess that means you can make me Chunin, right?" Naruto grinned, unlike Jiraiya who was dressed in his signature attire, Naruto just wore a black shirt and his normal orange pants. "Knowing the Hokage should have some benefits, after all, right?"

"And why should I listen to the orders of a 13-year-old?"

"I fought in the largest battle out of all the Genin! And won!" Naruto almost shouted, no one in the past few days had acknowledged his victory.

"I didn't see it." Jiraiya replied simply, Naruto, too tired to argue decided to ask another question that had been bothering me.

"If you're Hokage now, who's going to teach me?"

"Who else?" Jiraiya asked, "you're actual sensei, Kakashi."

- -

What Jiraiya had not told Naruto was he already tried to make Naruto Chunin. Once the council caught wind of his plan to make Naruto Chunin, however, he was faced with prejudice he did not even believe was happening towards his student.

The council had organized a meeting just for such a purpose. Such things were unheard of happening to previous Hokages.

Jiraiya was determined not to make his first act as Hokage fail.

Yes, the Village Elders – Sarutobi's former teammates – approved of him becoming Hokage, though that did not mean he was granted absolute power like he thought it would be.

Jiraiya, in his frustration, vented his anger into his story, as he wrote a certain chapter in which when the main character thinks he's going to finally win the heart of the girl of his dreams, his plan just ends up crashing and burning and all he receives in the end is a large kick in the balls.

The power of metaphors.

"What do you mean I can't make the boy Chunin?" Jiraiya yelled – out of everyone in the room, he was the only one wearing a Konoha headband. He faced the entire council during the meeting, and it was the other male of the former Hokage's team that chose to speak.

"It would seem bias if we made him –"

"Bias? He defeated a one-tailed demon!" Jiraiya argued with the old man, who was clearly disturbed by his anger.

"No one saw it, we're just going by his word. His previous fight with Neji however, was inadequate for him to -"

"Naruto is one of the best fighters out of all the Genin! Whilst some of them may be smarter than him, in the heat of battle Naruto proves himself successful time and time again!" Jiraiya frowned, he had expected some of them to hate the boy, as most of them were of the older generations whose children were killed by the Kyuubi's attack – but they weren't even giving the boy a chance!

"I think we should give the boy a chance." Jiraiya smiled when Morino Ibiki decided to speak up. He was the youngest, most recently elected member of the council, as well as the head of torture and interrogation of the ANBU. No one questioned his intelligence and no one questioned his experience.

"He has proven himself so far to every challenge he has had." Jiraiya became calmer, somewhat pleased he had a member of the council on his side, and a rather influential one too.

"Then he would have no problem proving himself again." Another council member said, one that Jiraiya had never seen before.

"I have no problem with that." Jiraiya eyed them carefully, if anything, Jiraiya did not want to make them think he was going to agree with them every time.

"We'll send him on a mission, a standard, Chunin-rank mission – just to see if he could really live up to your idea of him." And Jiraiya knew they were lying.

If it was anything like a normal Chunin-rank mission, he would commit seppuku on the spot. This was their indirect approach to ridding themselves of the demon. The boy would go into a mission and possibly not come out. Too bad they hadn't accounted for Naruto's unpredictability into the equation.

Jiraiya sighed, knowing that there was nothing more he could do except for relay the information Naruto. From what Kakashi had told him, this wouldn't be the first attempt the council had made on Naruto's life.

- -

When Jiraiya organized a meeting with Naruto after the meeting, Naruto had no problem with obliging and meeting him in the office.

A walk towards the Hokage's tower, though accompanied by hateful glances and disgusted stares, was just a simple walk out in the open.

Naruto had taught himself to ignore the prejudice from birth and to just laugh it off instead, his hollow laugh that had accompanied him ever since the council's first attempt on his life.

Jiraiya had been distracted with more paperwork from the council when Naruto arrived within view of his window.

The moment Jiraiya decided to play with Sandaime's Crystal Ball was the moment a well placed kunai lodged itself in Naruto's spine.

Jiraiya broke the window and jumped 11 stories to get to his student.

Naruto just laid there, kunai in his back, blood spilling out.

Looking around, on a street where everyone had previously shot murderous looks towards the boy, each person was as guilty of killing the boy as the next.

* * *

**Author's Note: **A difficult thing about writng stories is the author's note and the summary, and here's why: finding the midpoint between being too self-loathing to the point where it's painful - ie. I suck at summaries, sorry if it's crap, etc. - to being sarcastic and almost condescending - ie. I'm totally AWESOME at summaries, and this is the best thing I've ever written. 

So I'll just say this - give me reviews and I'll be happy.


	2. Once

**Chapter One**

**Rehash**

"You're not dead." Uchiha Sasuke's voice echoed in the hospital room. He faced the ceiling of his designated room, blank and grey, with a single light hanging from it.

"Do you think they put us in the room together because we're team mates, or was it coincidence?" Naruto spoke softly to him. Their beds were a meter apart, and they both were in similar hospital beds, in similar hospital clothing, wrapped in similar hospital bed sheets, looking up at the same ceiling. The room was Sasuke's, before Naruto came.

"Why did you get yourself killed?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Naruto's question. It was routine. Ignore everything else, only his questions mattered.

"I didn't get myself killed."

"Then why were they making a fuss?" Sasuke paused and frowned, Naruto smiled.

"How long have I been unconscious for?" Naruto copied the copy-cat genius – ignore his question, solve his own first.

"10 minutes." Sasuke replied and Naruto could tell from the tone of his voice that Sasuke was not lying. "They brought you in here, and found that your body had completed healed itself by the time they reached the operating table. The kunai had been pushed out of your body, and the poison that accompanied it left, leaving no traces in your body."

Naruto spent a moment thinking and then asking the obvious question, "so if I'm all healed up, why am I here?"

"They decided you needed a rest."

Naruto pondered.

He felt a satisfied jolt in his stomach.

Naruto survived. So did the Kyuubi.

- -

Every time Tsunade saw a frog, a toad, or any amphibious-looking creature of sorts, she thought of her former team mate. The same way she thought about her other team mate every time she saw a snake.

She wasn't surprised when she was confronted by a toad that spoke to her.

Shizune, her protégé and former lover's niece was surprised and even TonTon the pig was surprised. But not Tsunade.

"Message from the Hokage." The toad croaked, in a deep, gurgly voice. The moment the toad mentioned 'Hokage', she threw her next question of how the toad hermit tracked him down to the small town out the window. She had planned to take a detour to Konoha after her next gambling bust to attend the Hokage's funeral – news spread fast of one of Konoha's most infamous traitors killing the old man – but decided against it.

"After all these years – finally his childhood dream comes true." Tsunade smiled sadly to herself. "What does the pervert want?"

"He needs your assistance."

"And what makes him think I would want to come back to Konoha, let alone for _him_." Tsunade shot back, and the toad smiled, in the weird, creepy way that Jiraiya's toads always smiled.

"He hoped that he would be the deciding factor in your return, but it's obvious that won't be the case." The toad's smile broadened into a weird grin. Tsunade didn't know what to said to a grinning toad the size of her left foot. "He wants you to come back to Konoha to take over the hospital, and take command of all the medic ninjas and the facilities coming with it. He finds the current system to be unreliable and sub par."

"What is so important for me to need his assistance for, anyway?" Tsunade asked, regaining her composure.

"There was an incident today, in which Uzumaki Naruto was assassinated." The toad's grin dropped to a serious expression, and Tsunade began to wonder how old the toad really was. "Mere minutes later he was alive."

"If Jiraiya needs advice on such a matter, tell him to see a sealing expert. Until then I am retired." Tsunade folded her arms defiantly, tempted to kick the toad for bothering her. She was going to, but then another voice called her attention.

She thought her constant gambling losses accounted for all her bad karma. Apparently it wasn't so.

"Retired? How will you be of use to me then?" Orochimaru grinned, his hands hanging lifelessly by his side, though he still managed to give off the look of a man with absolute power at his fingertips. Yakushi Kabuto stood behind him, and a glance between him and Shizune spoke volumes.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tsunade spoke bitterly, as the toad took one look around and decided to go back to its own world.

"Well, unlike Jiraiya, I had the manners to seek you out face to face." Bright, white teeth gleamed in front of her. "So, Tsunade, how would you like to make a deal with me instead?"

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed. Orochimaru didn't stop grinning, and Tsunade felt her anger rising, attempting to fight back the fear.

"Go to hell."

"Been there, done that."

- -

"Akatsuki?" Kakashi asked, mid-way through conversation with Jiraiya, whose ears were suspiciously burning. They were facing each other at a local restaurant – Kakashi had passed on the food. Jiraiya had found having such conversations at official places usually didn't end well. That, and his office window was still being repaired.

"As surprising as it sounds, I don't think Akatsuki would try to kill Naruto." Jiraiya replied, he refused to wear the rest of the Hokage's uniform, but he did adorn the hat with his usual clothing, which he found to be rather stylish. "It is not their time to kill him, just yet for the least."

"Why's that?" Kakashi eyed Jiraiya carefully from across the table, as Jiraiya slowly swallowed a piece of chicken.

"They know Naruto can't be killed. That, and they need him alive anyway." Jiraiya leaned closer, almost whispering. "They're on a demon hunt – first demon to the ninth – in that order."

"Sabaku no Gaara?" Kakashi uttered the name of possibly one of the Sand's most powerful shinobi, who had been declared a Jonin on return to his village once Baki had been made Hokage.

"Not for three years."

"They're preparing." Kakashi placed the pieces together. "

"It's most likely the council trying to kill him." Jiraiya whispered again, softly, and Kakashi knew he was right.

"What do you want me to do?"

"After my little stunt at demanding Naruto get up a rank, the council insists on Naruto going on his mission in two weeks, and this is possibly his only chance at becoming Chunin." Jiraiya played with his food, circling through the noodles with his chopsticks. He knew what he was doing was extremely rude, but he was the Hokage, so it wasn't like anyone was going to point it out. "He's no where near ready if he's attacked by the Akatsuki, and he's barely close to being able to survive whatever mission they set for him. I'll need you to train him."

Kakashi began to stand up, "of course, Hokage-sama."

- -

Kakashi played favorites. He knew it.

He saw himself in Sasuke, saw the possible path that Sasuke could go into, and he knew that Sasuke was going to end up in a place he didn't want to be in. He picked Sasuke, the genius, over Naruto, the one who needed help if he were to survive life itself. If that was enough, he completely ignored Sakura.

Kakashi had picked a possibility over a certainty.

Naruto had been released from the hospital the night he came in, and Naruto walked out of the hospital alone. When Kakashi walked into the hospital to see Sasuke, he tried to ignore his jealous glance when he said he had to train Naruto. Kakashi was almost stunned by Sasuke's next question.

"What's Sakura doing?"

Kakashi had forgotten that Sakura had been released, and he honestly didn't know.

And he knew he was going to try and rectify all the mistakes he had been made with his team by training Naruto to become able enough. Maybe Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were unlucky that they were the first team he had ever passed.

"You're a terrible ninja." Kakashi spoke to Naruto, who stood across from him in the empty training ground. Naruto faced Kakashi with a vacant gaze.

"Thanks."

"I'm being honest. Your only outstanding quality is your chakra. You only know, at best four or five jutsu. Your Taijutsu form is horrible, and the only reason you've survived is because of your ability to use clones. You are damn lucky no one has ever tried to use Genjutsu in a battle on you yet, because you don't even know how to break out of one." Kakashi was angry. Not at Naruto, but at himself. These mistakes in Naruto were not Naruto's own fault, but his – he had failed to try and correct them until now.

"What are we going to do about it?" Naruto then asked, and Kakashi smiled.

"Firstly, take off your jacket, it hinders your movement. The pants are fine." Naruto did as he was told, removing his much loved orange jacket, to reveal a plain, black t-shirt underneath. Naruto was grinning inside – for once his actual teacher was going to teach him.

"Now what?"

"In these next two weeks, we're going to fix every problem I just pointed out." Kakashi tossed Naruto a book, and Kakashi continued his speech, "read the chapter I bookmarked, and once you're done, our training will start. This training will consist of me teaching you at least two jutsus, one Taijutsu technique with improving of your Taijutsu and making you more effective with your clones, and teaching you to break out of a Genjutsu."

"Understood."

- -

"One, two, three…" Sasuke counted, one-handed push-ups on the floor. If there was anything he had learnt from copying Rock Lee was that hard work paid off. His other hand was bandaged and in a sling, but that didn't stop him training. If Kakashi was going to train Naruto, Sasuke would become stronger by his own means. He left the hospital an hour after Kakashi visited him, deciding on a new resolve.

"Geniuses don't work hard." A voice said from behind him. "They get the easy way out of things, and they're talent is in finding the easy way, quickly."

"And?"

"Working hard by yourself will do nothing to help you, you aren't suited for personal hard work, no offence." The man smiled, adjusting his sunglasses and tightening the bandana on his head. "The best way for a genius to grow stronger is to be taught by another genius."

- -

"I don't need to be a genius to figure out what the technique you want me to learn is." Naruto sighed, and Kakashi smiled. Naruto finished reading the chapter, and tossed the book back to Kakashi. He remembered the words Kakashi had highlighted because they were clear, concise, and in detail to the point of obscenity. The book was for medic ninjas, but Naruto could tell why Kakashi had it. The art of killing had never been stated so frankly. "Are you really expecting me to use _that _Taijutsu technique?"

"It's deadly, and simple – one I believe all ninja should know." Kakashi replied. "It did make Zabuza famous for his notoriety of using it in almost all his missions."

"What was its name?" Naruto asked, curious of the name of the technique.

"Muon Satsujin Jutsu. The Silent Homicide Technique." After sighing, Kakashi took the moment to catch Naruto off guard, appearing behind him with lightning-fast speed, a kunai lingering dangerously close to the young Genin's neck.

"I need to get faster." Naruto understood Kakashi, and Kakashi pocketed the kunai, moving to his former position to face Naruto.

"To move fast does not require something as reckless as the weight training Gai has put Lee under." Kakashi said. "It requires a short, silent, burst of chakra from your feet, propelling you forward."

"The Body Flicker Technique?"

"I'm glad you've actually heard of it." Kakashi nodded, acknowledging that he was correct. "Moving so fast you appear as just a flicker or a flash. The first jutsu I am going to teach you."

"The second?" Naruto asked, and as soon as he finished his sentence, his eyes were able to catch the flicker of Kakashi's body moving behind him, but instead of a kunai at his neck, Kakashi just tapped his back. In mere moments, Kakashi was back in his original spot. The moment Naruto felt Kakashi touched his back, his body immediately faltered and refused to move. It was only seconds later when he regained feeling.

"The second. Kanashibari No Jutsu." Kakashi explained. "Another jutsu I find useful. The Temporary Paralysis Technique."

"Now, can we start?"

- -

It took three days for Naruto to master the Body Flicker Technique, three following days to master the Temporary Paralysis, and two days to get the two working together to maximize the effects of the Silent Homicide Technique. Kakashi was pleased. Along the way they had managed to rectify many of Naruto's Taijutsu problems, and like he said he would be able to, Naruto's use of clones had become more effective and efficient. Naruto had also become more efficient at chakra control and surprisingly, he had mastered breaking out of Genjutsu's easily, as all it required was a surge of chakra equal to or greater than the Genjutsu itself.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique)" Kakashi muttered under his breath, as he grabbed the leg of Naruto and pulled him underground. It was one of the many sparring sessions they were having, and Naruto was getting better every day. As Kakashi pulled Naruto down, he realised he had just pulled down a log, rather than a chakra wasting clone Naruto would have normally used.

When Kakashi had jumped up to find Naruto, the blond was already behind him, his kunai ready. Luckily, Kakashi caught Naruto's hand before he was able to attack him, grabbing it and tossing him towards a tree. Naruto regained his composure mid-air, though, and managed to land on his feet and throw shuriken towards the copy-nin.

Kakashi used his own kunai to deflect the shuriken, but was surprised when the last one transformed in a puff of smoke, into a grinning Naruto holding a kunai. As Kakashi brought his kunai up to attack the clone, he felt a tap on his back, and knew he had lost. He could feel the kunai at his neck from the real Naruto who was behind him, and couldn't avoid looking at he grin of the cloned Naruto which disappeared.

"Well done."

"What now?" Naruto asked, and Kakashi felt the affects of the paralysis leaving him, a tingling sensation running through his body.

"Reach into my pocket and you'll find a piece of paper, grab it and tell me what happens." Kakashi replied, as Naruto did as he was told, removing a rough piece of paper which immediately tore in half as soon as he grabbed it, without him even doing anything.

"It tore itself in half." Naruto stated simply, and Kakashi smirked.

"The third jutsu I am going to teach you was going to depend on your chakra nature, and I guess right in that it was wind." Kakashi smirked. "This is a wind technique I just so happened to conveniently copy from one of our friendly, invading enemies. It'll take the whole week to learn it."

- -

When Naruto finished learning the jutsu, he was damn proud.

It was the toughest jutsu he had ever learnt, even harder than summoning Gamabunta. It involved the finest chakra control, and knowledge of how his own chakra nature worked. But as soon as the training was over, and Naruto had to leave for his mission, he was ready.

"Are you ready?" Shiranui Genma asked him nervously. It wasn't every day he had to take a Genin on such a mission as their current one. The recently promoted Jounin watched the Genin, who had adopted a less obvious black uniform for the mission, on request from nearly every older Shinobi he knew.

"It's a simple mission, isn't it?" Naruto asked naively, and the other two Chunin next to him gave him questioning looks.

"They didn't tell you what this mission was, did they?" Kotetsu asked, scratching his nose, though knowing he wouldn't be able to get the itch past his bandage.

"No." Naruto admitted, and Izumo sighed.

"We're protecting the Wind Daimyo from assassins." Izumo explained clearly, and Naruto nodded.

"That doesn't sound too hard." Naruto replied. "It's like a mission I did a while back."

"It's nothing like any mission you've done before, honestly." Genma added. "If we fail, we'll be causing another war."

"Well that sucks." Naruto muttered. "I guess we should leave now, then."

- -

"Naruto will be killed on the mission," a council member explained to the other council member, hours after Naruto and his team had left, "then we will send the ANBU to back the team up. Thus preventing war and ridding ourselves of the demon at the same time."

"Excellent."

- -

Elsewhere, another unseen, important event was happening in the opposite gate of Konoha that Naruto had left. Two figures stood next to each other, cloaked in the same uniform – one large, bearing a sword on his back and the other large, gazing sharper than any sword could.

"So, do you still know your way around the village, Itachi?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Hope you enjoyed it. As for the thing about Jiraiya eating and doing something rude, basically from my time spent in Japan I figured that using your chopsticks for anything other than eating was bad. **


End file.
